Offset-cleaner.



No. 761,633,. PATENTED MAY 31, 1904.

I J. HUMPHRBY.

OFFSET CLEANER.

APPLIUATION I'ILBD APR. 16. 1903. 4

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715188865 M James Humphrey;

No. 761,633- PA'IIBNTED MAY 31, 1904 .v

" J. HUMPHREY.

OFFSET CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 16. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. I

X T Viggsses Fig Q 7 Jams Humphrey,-

Invent 54",

.UNiTED STATES Patented May 31, 1904.

PATENT OFFEE.-

JAMES HUMPHREY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO PERRY MASON COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

OFFSET-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,633, dated May 31, 1904.

I Application filed .pril 16, 1903. Serial No. 152,824. (No model.)

' To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMEs HUMPHREY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Offset-Cleaners,

of which the following is a full, clear, and eX- quent shifting of such sheet, however, it is still quite difficult to keep the printed paper perfectly clean and clear from offset; and it is the object of this invention to construct an improved means for removing more or less of the offset-ink from the oifset-sheet as rapidly as it accumulates thereon.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation of my apparatus and of the cylindrical impression member with which it is connected. Fig. 2 is a side sectional view of the same on the line X X in Fig. 4. t Fig. 3 is a side sectional view of the same onthe line Y Y in Fig. 4:; and Fig. .4 is a plan view of my apparatus, but with part thereof broken away.

The impression-cylinder is designated by the reference character 1. and is mounted in the usual manner upon a shaft 2, supported by the machine-framework 4. Upon this cylinder and the usual ofiset-sheet covering it and just in contact with such sheet is the composition roll 10, whose shaft 11 is supportedin bearings 15, held in the boxes 16 and vertically adjustable by means of the set-screws 17 Hence by turning said screws the bearings can be adjusted to properly vary the contact of the roll with the offset-sheet or to move it out of contact wholly when desired. The car 18 being swung to one side, the bearing 15 can be removed and the roll withdrawn whenever needed. Kept in suitable contact with said roll by a similar arrangement of bearings and boxes is the roller 20, formed of any suitable material, as wood, and covered with sheet-felt 22 of moderate thickness. In

other roller.

contact with this roller is a similar roller 30, 5 0 covered with a sheet of felt 32 and supported in similar adjustable bearings. The latter roller 30 dips into a tray 40, kept partially filled with naphtha or other ink-dissolving liq- 1d, and its felt cover 32 becoming saturated V W therewith and being properly rotated theliquid is conveyed to the felt cover 22 of the To thus rotate the said rollers,

I provide the lever 50, fulcrumed upon the end of the shaft 21 and oscillated by the pin 52, projecting from the shaft 2 into the slot 51 of such lever. .At the upper end of this lever is a pawl 52, engaging the teeth of the gear-wheel 54:, which is fixed on said shaft 21. Hence as the cylinder 1 revolves the 5 roller 20 is slowly and intermittently rotated. In-a similar manner the roller 30 is slowly turned, the lever 55 being fulcrumed on the shaft 81, provided at its upper end with a pawl 57, engaging the gear-wheel58, fixed on 7 the shaft 81 and coupled to the lever 50 by a connecting-rod 56. Said two pawls are, it will be seen from Fig. 1, made to face in opposite directions in order to cause their respective rollers to be turned in opposite directions. Moreover, the distance of the rod 56 from the shaft2l being doublethat from the shaft 31 as measured on the respective levers 5O 55, the lever 55 will be given twice the amplitude of oscillation of the other. Hence the pawl 57 will traverse twice the number of gear-teeth as does the pawl 53, and the roller 30 will accordingly move twice as fast as its neighbor. Inasmuch as the said rollers are turned intermittently and in differ- 5 out directions and speed by the pawls, I find it necessary to provide a means for preventing one from moving the other. To do this, I provide the friction device, comprising the two' wooden clamping members 25 35, pivoted 9 together at 27. This device is shown more fully in Fig. 2, where the shaft 21 is shown as embraced between the two clamping-sections 25 26, pressed together and against such shaftby the set-nuts 28, and the clampingsections 35 86, similarly pressed against the shaft 31 by the set-nuts 37.

In operation the composition roll 10 revolves rapidly by its frictional contact with the impression-cylinder and takes upon its surface the ink offset upon the offset-sheet. As this roll turns in contact with the naphthamoistened felt 22 of the roll all the ink taken up by said roll is removed therefrom by the felt. As the roller 20 slowly revolves a fresh section of moistened felt is constantly presented to the roll and in its turn becomes loaded with ink. When this soiled felt 22 revolves into contact with the felt 32 of the roller 30, this latter felt, being freshly charged with naphtha and moving with faster motion in contact with the soiled felt, soon removes from the latter the greater part of its ink. The further rotation of the roller then carries the soiled felt 32 over and down into the tray 40 and is thoroughly cleansed by its passage through the naphtha.

To prevent too much of the liquid being carried up by the felt 32', I provide the metal blade 42, pivotally supported at its lower edge and resting against the felt 32, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8.

What I claim as myinvention, and for which I desire Letters Patent, is as follows, to wit:

1. The combination with the impressionsurfaee of a printing-press, of a composition roll resting thereon, an absorbent roll located parallel to the latter but out of contact with both it and saidimpression-surface, a tray inclosing the lower part of the last-named roll and containing an ink-dissolving fluid, and an absorbent-surfaced roller contacting with both said rolls, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the impressionsurface of a printing-press, of a composition roll resting thereon, an absorbent-surfaced roll located parallel with the latter but out of contact with both it and said impression-surface, a tray inelosing the lower part of the last-named roll and containing an ink-dissolving fluid, an absorbent-surfaced roller eontacting with both said rollsand turned at a different speed from either of the latter, substantially as described.

3. The combination with the impressioncylinder, of a composition roll contacting therewith, an absorbent-surfaced roller revoluble in contact with said roll, a gear-wheel rigid with said roller, a lever pivoted upon the shaft of said roller and having at its upper end a pawl engaging said gear-wheel, a crank-pin engaging said lever and moving with the shaft of said cylinder, a second absorbentsurfaced roller revoluble in contact with the first-named one, a gear-wheel rigid with said second roller, a lever pivoted on the shaft of the latter and having at its upper end a pawl engaging the last-named gear-wheel, a connecting-rod joining said levers, and a fluidoontaining tray inclosing the lower part of the last-named roller, substantially as described.

4. The combination with the impressionsurface of a printing-press, of the composition roll in contact therewith, the two absorbent-surfaced rollers in contact with each other, and one thereof contacting with said roll and the other being supplied with an inkdissolving fluid, means for intermittently and differently rotating said rollers, such means including pawls and gear-wheels, and a friction device for said rollers comprising wood on clutch members clamped about the shafts thereof and secured the one to the other, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the impressionsu'rface of a printing-press, of a composition roll contacting therewith, two absorbent-surfaced rollers contacting with each other and one thereof with said roll, a naphtha-containing tray located beneath the other of said rollers and moistening the surface thereof with its contents, means for rotating said rollers, and the blade pivoted along its lower edge in said tray and having its upper edge resting against the surface of the roller in said tray, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing invention 1 have hereunto set my hand this Pith day of April, 1903.

J AMES HUM lllltlCY.

WVitnesses:

GEORGE W. Hnnrnnnv, A. B. UrIIAM. 

